Think your website has SEO problems but don't want to pay for an expensive SEO platform?
Good news: you don't need a big SEO budget to find many of the issues affecting your website. Several free SEO audit tools can help you check indexing, technical errors, page speed, backlinks, structured data, and on-page SEO
1. Google Search Console — Check Google Visibility
Start here if you're auditing your own website.
Search Console shows:
Which pages Google has indexed
Search queries bringing traffic
Clicks and impressions
Indexing problems
Core Web Vitals
Sitemap issues
Best for: Understanding how Google sees your website.
2. Google PageSpeed Insights — Check Website Speed
A slow website can create a poor user experience. PageSpeed Insights checks individual pages and provides performance recommendations.
It also reports important Core Web Vitals, including LCP, INP, and CLS.
Best for: Finding page-speed and performance problems.
3. Screaming Frog — Find Technical SEO Issues
Screaming Frog crawls your website and can find:
Broken links
404 errors
Missing titles
Duplicate titles
Missing meta descriptions
Heading problems
Redirects
Canonical issues
The free version supports up to 500 URLs per crawl.
Best for: Technical SEO audits.
4. Ahrefs Free — Check Backlinks & SEO Health
Ahrefs offers free SEO tools for verified websites, including Site Audit and backlink insights.
You can use it to discover technical issues, backlinks, referring domains, and organic keywords.
Best for: Technical SEO + backlink analysis.
5. Semrush — Get a Quick SEO Check
Semrush can provide a quick overview of technical and on-page SEO problems.
Best for: A quick second opinion on your website's SEO health.
6. Google Rich Results Test — Check Schema
If you've added structured data to your website, this tool can check whether your pages are eligible for supported Google rich results.
Best for: Schema and structured-data testing.
7. Google Search — Do a Manual SEO Check
Don't underestimate Google itself.
Search:
site:yourwebsite.com
This can give you a quick idea of which pages Google has indexed.
You can also search your main keywords and compare your pages with competitors appearing in the results.
Best for: A quick manual SEO review.
Which Tool Should You Use First?
You don't need to use all seven at once.
A simple workflow is:
Google Search Console → Screaming Frog → PageSpeed Insights → Ahrefs Free → Rich Results Test
Use Search Console to understand your search visibility, Screaming Frog to find technical problems, PageSpeed Insights for performance, and Ahrefs for additional SEO and backlink insights.
How Often Should You Run an SEO Audit?
For most small and medium-sized websites, a full SEO audit every 1–3 months is a practical starting point.
Run an additional check after a website redesign, migration, major URL changes, or large content update.
Final Takeaway
You don't need expensive SEO software to start improving your website.
With a combination of Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, Screaming Frog, Ahrefs Free, and Google's other free tools, you can uncover many of the issues that quietly hurt your website's search performance.
Audit regularly. Fix the biggest problems first. Then monitor the results.
